


Somebody to die for.

by coffecolors



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Domestic Violence, Dysfunctional Family, Gaslighting, Graphic Violence, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Murder, Murderers, Physical Abuse, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:40:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24820054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffecolors/pseuds/coffecolors
Summary: “Cause I don't need this life, I just need... Somebody to die for” — Hurts.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: The GraduaXion





	Somebody to die for.

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags carefully and proceed with caution to avoid any kind of triggering. I know myself this is heavy work so read under your own responsibility. I couldn't get the idea out of my head so here it is. Because why not make graduation day tragic? Inspired on 'Somebody to die for' by Hurts. Thank you to the kind Mods for being so, so patient. I hope you enjoy this ride!

In the middle of a cold room is a boy with his head wrapped in bandages, covered in a dirty, wet gown, staring into the void. On the table, there’s a bag full of clothes and an untouched glass of water. A woman in her mid 30’s enters and the crackling of her heels are clear, echoing inside.

“Hello, sweetheart” She starts in a soft whisper as she sits slowly on the opposite chair, placing an unopened folder in front of him.

“Do you know where you are?" 

The boy does not respond, unable to move or speak. The silence fills the space for a couple of minutes and the woman leaves again when she notices she won’t get a reply soon. Surprisingly, she comes back with a blanket and a cup of coffee. She wraps the boy in the soft cloth and insists for him to drink the hot beverage. 

She gently flips two photos towards the boy. He looks disinterested but stares at the pictures anyway. The first one shows a woman with a clear hole in the head due to a shot. He can’t see her face, completely disfigured by the impact, but he recognizes her. His breath hitches when he sees the other picture, a man with multiple shots in the chest. He has a gown just like him.

“Can you recognize them, sweetie?”

* * *

Baekhyun wondered if he had done anything wrong in his past life to deserve to live in misery. His dreams were meant to be crushed by an abusive father and a permissive mother and he had nothing else to fight for. Friends? He was a burden to them; taking care of him when they didn’t have to by feeding him and giving him a place to stay in order to avoid his own home.

Baekhyun’s family was known and respected thanks to a flawless facade of a perfect family. A facade that hid secrets no one could ever imagine. Baekhyun was the son of a prestigious lawyer that knew how to keep a household in control, a man who didn’t hesitate to use violence if he sensed any hint of defiance.

There, on the brink of the bridge, Baekhyun decided that it was enough. While searching for the easiest way to climb onto the railing, he remembered Chanyeol. He met him in History class a while ago and they were supposed to meet for a group project. His father decided he didn’t have to.

He envied Chanyeol to death. He had an adorable sister, a precious dog and parents who adored him and supported him in everything. In three months, he found himself falling in love with the kindness the man offered, along with his beauty and charms. If it wasn’t for him, he would’ve killed himself a long time ago. But things were different now. A broken nose, a black eye and an apparent dislocated shoulder were too much to handle, not to mention the bloody waterfall coming out of his mouth along with little pieces of what he assumed were his teeth now floating inside. His face was all swollen, but all of that physical pain didn't compare to all the living hell he had been through lately. He couldn't do it anymore. 

Chanyeol found him just seconds before he jumped off.

"We can get through this. I'm going to help you." The tall boy said, reaching for his hand. “Take my hand, please…”

It was the only thing he needed to hear before getting off the railing and run into Chanyeol’s arms, holding him as if his life depended on it. He saved him, again, and he didn’t have anything to offer in return. Chanyeol threatened to sue his father but Baekhyun immediately refused, he was doing enough by helping him pay his medical bills. Provoking his father meant dragging Chanyeol into a whole unnecessary mess and he wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

Chanyeol insisted on taking pictures of his wounded body. That was the first time Baekhyun got naked in front of a man. He had more evidence to show; all the scars were deep.

Baekhyun prayed to a God that failed him years ago and Chanyeol soon became the strength he needed to go back home after the incident which meant hiding wounds and bruises on his body the next day, to have his body covered in scars and bandages. His body couldn’t resist more punishments. 

Chanyeol took him under his care when Jongdae couldn’t. The sleepovers gave way to small glimpses of each other’s bodies, kisses that went from rosy cheeks to awaiting lips and shy hand holding turned into eager neckings filled with longing and affection. Sex didn’t happen until he voiced out his insecurities to him.

His father gaslighted him so badly that it made him extra self-conscious about his body, his looks, convincing him and his mother into thinking they stank and they started to believe it. He tried to use as much soap as he could in the shower and buy every perfume available so Chanyeol and others wouldn't notice his disgusting odor. If he actually had any. His house, even when his mother cleaned day and night, and all he could smell was _Clorox and Glade_ , it was still stinky according to the man of their nightmares. 

“It's all lies,” Chanyeol reassured him, slowly getting down to caress the skin of his neck with his lips. “You, young man, smell heavenly”

  
  
Park Chanyeol made sure to kiss his worries away and every mark on his skin, replacing pain with love and pleasure.

Promises were made on those heated nights. After graduation, they would leave that town and break away from his father. They both needed a diploma first to get a good job later, because who the hell was going to hire a couple of uneducated children. Luckily, they had enough time to gather all the things they needed: savings, food, a job offer for Chanyeol in another city. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for them to survive a couple of months until he could get a proper job and help Chanyeol. All of that was too much to digest, because never in his life could he have made such great plans. On top of that, Chanyeol never desisted from sending the fucker to jail, filing a lawsuit against Baekhyun’s father. He couldn't stay there just watching how his now-boyfriend got new bruises every day.

Baekhyun had to disappear before it was too late.

He ran away from the nightmare one night, a week before graduation. With a tiny backpack with his entire life in it, he left home. He tried to persuade his mother but she lost the fight a long time ago and he didn’t have enough time to insist. He got out on time because seconds later he heard his father screaming his name at the top of his lungs.

Staying at his friends' house was too dangerous, for that reason he ended up hiding in the worst hotel he could find, paying in cash and registering himself under a fake name, afraid his father would find him. But Mr. Byun was smarter. 

Graduation day arrived. His bag was ready. 

He was fixing his suit when the hotel receptionist called to his room early in the morning.

“Mister Park, you have a call. I’ll connect you now” 

He thought it was Chanyeol. He no longer had a cellphone and the only one who knew about his hideout was him.

_“Son”_ He heard through the phone and his body went limp.

“You think you can run away from me?” Baekhyun didn’t know when his body started shaking or when the tears began spilling over.

“You better come back home, you brat. You don’t want to get in trouble, do you?” Mr. Byun sounded collected as ever, always with his diplomatic demeanor.

“I hope you rot in hell” Baekhyun had the courage to fight back this time.

“I never educated you to be this disrespectful, Byun Baekhyun”

A laugh.

“I’ll teach some manners to you and that boyfriend of yours. You won’t bring shame to this family anymore”

A death threat would’ve sounded less menacing. Baekhyun knew they didn’t have much time.

He had trouble getting out of the hotel, suffering from a sudden panic attack the moment someone knocked on his door. Was his father waiting for him outside? It turned out to be a mere concierge but still, Baekhyun couldn’t snap out of it. Only Chanyeol’s soothing voice made him go back to his senses, and while driving to school his boyfriend tried to reason with him; Mr. Byun would never expose himself like that. Also, he was supposed to be on trial that same day.

  
  
Going to the celebration was something difficult to do, but Chanyeol assured him that he was safe and that they would disappear right after that. His father was expected to be held in custody before the trial so he let himself enjoy his graduation. Nevertheless, he was still looking for a familiar face among the attending parents - silly him, his mother would never leave the house.

The ceremony was full of emotions: happiness, anxiety, relief. 

“Come on, stay for the afterparty,” A friend asks for the nth time, hoping to convince them.

  
  
“I think they have something more important to do” Jongdae, aware of their plans, comes to the rescue.

They shared eternal hugs, promising to cross paths again when everything was no longer dangerous. 

Baekhyun was terrified, in fact, he was scared of life but now, with a diploma on hand and his future in the other, all he could feel was love. 

“I love you” he confessed in a whisper and Chanyeol kissed him in response. 

Everything was prepared. They ran away after saying goodbye to their beloved friends. His boyfriend just turned 18 the day before and it was the perfect time to leave. 

They loved each other like never before in the back of Chanyeol’s truck. It was hot and messy, full-on adrenaline as a result of the rushed decisions and their new future just a few kilometers away. They still had their gowns on, and his pants hadn’t even reached his knees the moment Chanyeol pounded into him.

It was too good to be true. 

In an old truck on the outskirts of the city, there were two teenagers promising each other the wonders of the world, turning their minds off from the sickening reality that awaited them. Nothing could have warned them about it being the last night they would have the possibility of being together in body and soul.

He never realized that they’d done everything too late. His father was proud to call himself a _gentleman_ who knew how to keep his word and never broke a promise. Baekhyun underestimated him. 

He never considered his father would never show up to the trial. Never considered he’d get rid of his mother before he went looking for Baekhyun to finish what he started. 

After hours of driving, they stopped at a gas station to fill the tank and buy some groceries, with him being in charge of the former while Chanyeol was already heading inside the store.

The rain started pouring heavily as he waited for the fuel dispenser to finish. He wanted to grab an umbrella for Chanyeol, but out of nowhere, a hand covered his mouth from behind. 

“Shhh, got you” 

Fear paralyzed Baekhyun, along with a stupefying pain taking over his head moments later. He didn’t remember much other than his body falling on the concrete and constant blows aimed at his skull. His sight completely blurred out from the thick substance running down his face, covering his eyes. He barely registered Chanyeol’s voice coming out of the store. 

He couldn't move. He couldn't tell Chanyeol to run and save himself.

He heard an excruciating, sharp noise that disabled his hearing seconds later and made him lose complete consciousness right after. For how long? He couldn’t tell. When Baekhyun opened his eyes again, the first thing that came to his mind was his father’s previous words.

He didn’t know where he was or what was happening anymore, he just wanted the agonizing pain to stop. His nightmare was supposed to end, but not like this.

Sirens of an ambulance were heard not long after. In those last moments, he saw a gun he immediately reached for. 

* * *

They say that graduation day is one of the happiest moments in one’s life but that was not his case, because his father had taken away everything he ever loved that day. His mother and the only hope he had left: Park Chanyeol. 

He’s been in the interrogatory room more hours that he can keep track of. He told the woman everything his soggy mind could remember. Everything was blurry. The fight, the blood, the screams, and the shoots. In that cold room, he feels lost again. He has nowhere to go and he won’t be able to live a life without Chanyeol in it. He comes back to his senses when the officer slightly touches him. 

“They found your father’s gun, Baekhyun. But we found bullets from another weapon. Another gun must’ve been involved. Do you remember anything about that? Do you know where is it, Baekhyun? Was it Chanyeol’s?”

Baekhyun just blinks. 

“Was it yours?”

Too many questions.

“I don’t know”

Silence fills the room again and Baekhyun hopes that the officer can’t hear his thoughts or the way his heart quickens.

“I’ve heard you graduated today.” She carefully says “Congratulations, sweetheart” Baekhyun scoffs. 

“My father?” He questions.

The woman slips another picture. A man he knew too well, with a perfect shot right on his forehead.

“He was shot with the gun we can’t find” 

“And Chanyeol?” He asks again and the police officer, now concerned, comes back to him. 

“He… He’s no longer with us, honey. You were there. You’ve seen the pictures”

Baekhyun shakes his head again. He doesn’t want to remember. 

You see, details are the ones that help solve a crime scene, the ones that help put everything in its place, the ones that help a poor boy to take advantage of the situation, a boy who was quick enough to take the weapon off his boyfriend’s hand, hiding it inside his own clothes. No one seemed to care about the bloody gown covering his body.

“I’ll give you some time alone, okay? I’m gonna bring you something to eat so we can continue”

When the woman closes the door, Baekhyun takes that moment of loneliness as his opportunity to join Chanyeol. Before someone else can get inside, a shot is heard.

Baekhyun doesn’t need to suffer anymore, not when he’s got somebody to die for.


End file.
